..The village is a pilgrimage site, for it is here that the “Miraculous Black Madonna” is displayed in the Baroque Saint Joseph’s Monastery Church. This is a statue of Spanish origin from the 12th or 13th century, left behind by the Spaniards after their short time as Beilstein’s lords after the Thirty Years’ War and shortly thereafter taken to France, only to be brought back to Beilstein in 1950.

We hope you enjoyed this series on The Black Madonna and Child. For more information on Black Madonnas, check out the following:

Oooh, I guess I’m the early riser. I took a sick day (i.e. “me” day) from work today. I’ve worked the past 2 weekend straight and I kinda wanted a 3 day weekend…plus I have my phone interview today, and I was beaucoup tired when I got home last night, so I wanted to be refreshed.

Hope everybody has a great day.

ETA: Oh and a friendly reminder, don’t forget Steve Harvey’s interview with POTUS airs on this daytime talk show today. It’s not too early to set your DVR

Lisa M

Good morning, lamh!! Enjoy the day off! Oh…good morning to POU fam too!!

sagittarius

Good morning, Lisa M!

Alma98

Morning Lisa!

GreenLadyHere

Good MornTin’ LisaM. ***BIG HUG*** :>)
Good 2 C U. :>) Have a good day. :>)

That giant slide rule gave me a chuckle. I didn’t know that math students used that anymore. Believe it…I still have mine from High School math. It cost me a whole dollar which was a lot at that time & I really resented that because I hated Trig!

– – —Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was hospitalized early Friday morning as a “precaution” after feeling ill, a spokesman said, adding that doctors concluded “everything is normal” after testing.

“Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better, spokesman Adam Jentleson said in a statement. “Doctors have asked that he remain in the hospital for observation so he will not be working today.”
THERE IS MORE — — –

[….] He is young, gifted & Black. Joshua Bedford is now the youngest student to study at the University of Oxford. At the age of 6 in 2011, he earned over five Distinction Certificates in ihilosophy, mathematics and history….and had additionally completed a master-class Research Project in Historical Enquiry on the Great Plague of 1665, earning him yet another Distinction.

[….] Joshua ranked 4th place out of 24 “able and high-performing
students” who were all older than him ranging in age from 8 to 12. He learned to read fluently at the age of 2 and four years later began reading at the level of a 16 year-old. A native of Tottenham in the London borough of Haringey, our talented prodigy has also studied Japanese and Chinese Mandarin since the age of three.[….]

– – -Ohhh — -BLESS him. :>)
– – – –A native of Tottenham in the London borough of Haringey, our talented prodigy has also studied Japanese and Chinese Mandarin since the age of three.. . — -OMWORD. . :>)

Thank U 4 this creolechild. – – –Have a good day. :>) – –

creolechild

Good morning Lady Green. Hugs and kisses to you and congrats on the new addition to your family.

Wow, I feel so ordinary. Love stories about our little black geniuses. They don’t get the focus as others, as we know.

creolechild

People With HIV Now Live Almost As Long As The General Population Does

The University of British Columbia’s B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS drew the conclusion that HIV no longer equates to short lifespans, and is set to publish its positive findings in the scientific journal PLoS One. [….] The Centre, which conducts regular HIV/AIDS research, attributes longer life expectancy to more effective medical treatments, which are “simpler and safer and better tolerated.”

While people in their twenties who contracted the virus in 2001 were projected to live an average of 36 more years, that number jumped to 51 in 2006. In fact, people with HIV can now live upwards of 70 years.[…]

GM to invest $1.3 billion in new equipment, expansions mostly in Michigan

General Motors’ $1.3-billion investment, mostly in three Michigan
plants, will retain or add about 1,000 jobs, many of which are in the
company’s Flint birthplace that has endured the bumpy road of GM’s decades-long contraction.

The expansion plans, announced Monday, include $600 million for a paint shop at the Flint truck assembly plant; $493 million for a new 10-speed transmission at the Romulus Powertrain plant, and $121 million at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where workers assemble the Chevrolet Malibu, Impala and Volt.[….]

The U.S. economy grew at a solid 4.1% annual rate from July through
September, the fastest pace since late 2011 and significantly higher
than previously believed. Much of the upward revision came from stronger consumer spending.

The Commerce Department’s final look at growth in the summer was up from a previous estimate of 3.6%. Four-fifths of the revision came from stronger consumer spending, primarily in the area of health care.[….]

This is not just a Boston phenomenom. Chicago, too, has this kind of behavior. The difference is that for Chicago, it became political. A mayor was elected based on snow removal for ALL of its residents. And, it became a wake-up call to black folks that they could really assert themselves at the ballot box.

creolechild

Something similar happened here too when Mayor Menino declared one winter that spot savers would be removed by city crews. He had to walk that one back with the quickness…

rikyrah

Bilandic lost because of a snowstorm and NO Mayor since then has slipped on snow removal.
King Richard thought he could short change folks and do snow removal on the cheap a couple of years ago, but the blowback was so swift and fierce that he hurried up to get in front of the camera, blamed it on some lowlevel person, and promised that the snow removal would be back on track.

rikyrah

Chicago checking in here:
if someone cleans the snow and puts a placeholder there..
WHEN you get your ass kicked for taking someone else’s place, don’t call the police, just accept the ass whoopin’.

I’m assuming it’s his last one before he and the family goes on their annual winter vacation to Hawaii.

AxelFoley

Shit, they can DIAF even if they don’t ask him as far as I’m concerned.

creolechild

Deal clears way for N.J. ‘Dream Act’

In a breakthrough after weeks of recrimination, New Jersey’s
Democratic-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Christie agreed on a landmark “Dream Act” that will allow undocumented immigrants to pay reduced, in-state tuition to attend public colleges and universities in the state.[….]

The Legislature agreed to remove a provision that would have made the students eligible for state financial aid, while Christie backed away from his demand that the tuition break not be provided to those who attended a New Jersey high school after 2012.[….]

Sepia♥ – – – –ACA POSITIVITY– -:>)
— –White House broadens Obamacare exemptions–
— – –Millions of Americans who had their health plans cancelled will be exempt from the Obamacare individual mandate, the administration said Thursday — a surprise move that comes just before Monday’s deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1.

The administration also said people who had their plans cancelled could get a scaled-back catastrophic plan, which has more limited benefits than those included in other Obamacare health plans.
THERE IS MORE – —

It’s funny that no matter what they’re against Black always finds its way into the conversation.

Gays and Blacks
Jews and Blacks
Latino and Blacks
Asians and Blacks
Poor People and All Blacks
People who steal government secrets and Blacks
White feminism and Blacks
Racism and Racist Reverse Racist Blacks
Blacks and Blacks

Local charity pairs with Pusha-T to get 1,000 pairs of shoes for needy children

Kids in need in Norfolk got an early Christmas gift over the weekend – a brand new pair of shoes! It’s the result of former NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action award winner Lizette McKesson and her organization “A Thousand Shoes for A Thousand Smiles.” They work with local social services to make sure the kids that need shoes can get them.

This Christmas, Lizette asked local rapper Pusha-T to take action and get results, and he did in a big way. Pusha-T got Adidas to donate 1,000 pairs of brand new sneakers. Lizetta and A Thousand Shoes for A Thousand Smiles have been up and running for nine years now. It’s a huge effort involving several months plus a variety of businesses and donors, but she says that in the end, the smiles she gets from the kids make all that sacrifice worth it.(Click on link to watch video.)

It’s been a good year for the CFPB and the American public, and, that would be ALL of the American public.

GreenLadyHere

Sepia♥ – – Apparently doin’ well – –:>)
– – –Meet the Tankards, Bravo’s ‘black Brady Bunch’– –
– —-“A family that prays together, stays together” is the motto by which gospel-jazz artist and motivational speaker Ben Tankard lives by — and these words are put into practice on his reality TV show Thicker than Water.

Tankard and his family, who are self-dubbed the “black Brady Bunch,” have appeared on Bravo every Sunday night since the show’s premiere in October and have lured in viewers with their big personalities, lavish lifestyles and entertaining candid conversations.

But at its core, the family’s foundation is built on their strong
belief in Christianity. Tankard and his family rely on their faith to
carry them through the trials they face and credit their religious
devotion for the success they have, and continue to earn.

Tankard and his wife, Jewel, have spent most of their lives raising
their children through great discipline and lessons that are rooted in
scripture. Altogether, the couple has six children: Benji, Brittney,
Brooklyn Cyrene, Diamond and Shanira – each of whom are now adults and all lived under the same roof.

“It’s a Brady bunch of grown juveniles, they’re grown but not all are gone,” Tankard joked to theGrio. “But it’s fun. The shows airs some of our family issues and drama on raising a houseful of children, who are now all adults.”
THERE IS MORE – – – -Any POU FAM♥ – –WATCHERS / – – -:>)

Town

But at its core, the family’s foundation is built on their strong
belief in materialism.

THERE. FIXED.

Diamond & Shanira are not part of the children; Diamond is the granddaughter (Brooklyn, who’s been arrested 20+ times, but is the most interesting of the children) and Shanira is Benji’s wife.

Brittney doesn’t even live there anymore. She’s kind of off to the side.

The most interesting characters to me are Brooklyn, the former madam and Junice, Jewel’s jealous younger sister (think a black Jan Brady).

The Central African Republic had finally exploded.[….] For a period, it looked as though the world was preparing to sit idly by yet again as another mass atrocity was perpetrated on the continent of Africa. Two days later, it was like a switch had been thrown. The president of the United States asked for the people of the CAR for calm, speaking to them directly through the Internet and radio.

The president shook $100 million loose from the federal budget, to purchase much-needed supplies to the African peacekeepers struggling to stem the killing and airlift in reinforcements. And on Thursday, Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, announced yet another $15 million in humanitarian aid and the pending presence of U.S. military advisers to assist the African Union’s forces in restoring peace. Activists and U.S. officials alike say that the speed at which the United States has responded is unprecedented and part of it is due to a little heralded document and the bureaucratic tool it created.

Presidential Study Directive 10 (PSD-10) came into being in 2011[….] Never before has an official document so bluntly said that the United States’ “security is affected when masses of civilians are slaughtered, refugees flow across borders, and murderers wreak havoc on regional stability and livelihoods. America’s reputation suffers, and our ability to bring about change is constrained, when we are perceived as idle in the face of mass atrocities and genocide.”[….]

[….] U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin today agreed with
Morgan Stanley that Skowron was a “faithless servant” and must
forfeit salary and incentive pay from April 2007 to November
2010.[….] In August 2011, Skowron admitted using secret tips he got
from a French physician to help FrontPoint avoid more than $30
million in trading losses on Human Genome Sciences Inc., a
Rockville, Maryland, pharmaceutical firm that was acquired by
GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

Skowron, a Yale University and Harvard University-trained
doctor who quit medicine for Wall Street, is serving his term at
McKean Federal Correction Institution in northwestern
Pennsylvania, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons
website.[….]

sadly, if past is prologue with the current WHPC, then the better question to answer is WHO will be first to ask bout Duck Dynasty?

My money is on Foxbot Ed Henry, lying liar Johnathan Karl from ABC, one of the internet outfits, or our girl April “glad to be on the buss with Mitt R” Ryan

lamh36

Man, I miss my LGBFF (Latino Gay BFF, was my nickname for my friend Fi-Fi. He called me his BSBFF…LOL).

He just posted this pic on his timeline, and I love it…Hope we didn’t offend any real named Felicias out there…lol

GreenLadyHere

Sepia♥ — — -From MR. PRESIDENT♥- – –
– – –How The Obama Administration Is Trying To Stop The Next Edward Snowden– –
– – — –National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden’s claim that he was exposing illegal and unwarranted government overreach was bolstered this week when a federal judge ruled Monday that the NSA’s mass surveillance is unconstitutional, and a White House panel released tough new proposals to reform the agency Wednesday. But the Obama administration, which has
aggressively pursued whistleblowers since 2009, is making it clear that those who do come forward will face a battle.
— — SNIP – —
– – –The White House announced Monday that it would not grant amnesty to Snowden, who is currently taking refuge in Russia, and would pursue all charges against him if he returns to U.S. soil.

The announcement is only a taste of what whistleblowers can expect if they follow in Snowden’s footsteps.

He also showed clearly PBO plays by the book. There is no government abuse of the system. They can huff and puff all they want to but Snowden, Greenwald, the Guardian,Poitras and everybody else connected got burned.

creolechild

Drop Out to Drop Ins: One Man, 200 students – back in school Posted on November 13, 2013

It is very depressing to turn on the television and hear multiple
stories of homicide, robberies and politicians having tantrums. It is
not very often we hear on the news stories of average everyday citizens who take it upon themselves to better the future of our teenagers as well as our communities.[….] I was excited when I read an article about a man by the name of Wesley Smith.[….] His story of how he has been able to positively impact the lives of over 300 teenagers impressed me so much I made it my mission to meet him.[….]

Mr. Smith is the founder of a Non-forfeit program called “Drop Outs
to Drop Ins” which is local to his area of Minneapolis, MN. “Drop Outs to Drop Ins” has been credited with assisting over 300 Minnesota students in re-enrolling in high school with more than 200 of his “young people” graduating in 2012 which lead to Mr. Smith being named as the 2013 recipient of the University of St. Thomas School Law’s Community Justice Project’s “Champion for the Youth Award”[….]

It should not go unmentioned Mr. Smith’s work is financed solely out of his pocket, no federal or state government help. Mr. Smith walks the streets finding young individuals who are not enrolled in high school and successfully encourage them to re-enroll in school earn their diploma and enroll in secondary education. The work of Mr. Smith is not limited to urban “at risk” areas; he has also reached numerous suburban teens.[….]

If Duck Dynasty pere said due to his religious views he believed black people are inferior would that be a free speech issue?

rigoletta

Somebody needs to let David Corn know that that idiot did say that black people were inferior because we were happier under slavery.

I understand the anger at his homophobia but no one seems to mention his ugly racism.

Oh and I know Jindal is an idiot but y’all already knew that.

goldenstar

David Corn was on Last Word last night. And, the subsequent segment dealt with the issue of the absolute racism in the comments. David Corn knows.

sagittarius

Good morning, rigoletta!

Good to see you!

rigoletta

Good morn..I mean afternoon.

Town

Everyone’s falling out over the gay comments but nobody’s said a peep about the black comments, and nobody’s said a thing about TMZ’s Nigga poll they had up on their website either.

sagittarius

Good morning, POU Fam!

I hope all is well. Have a great day!

Alma98

Morning sagi! You too!

sagittarius

Morning, Alma!

rikyrah

Good Morning, sag !
Just found out that one of Rahm’s fucking school cameras is up near St. Rita.
W-T-F is it up near a fucking HIGH SCHOOL ON A MAIN STREET!!!
and the speed limit is fucking 20 mph
20 mph on 79th Street!!!
W-T-F!!!
I can’t wait to vote against him again.

sagittarius

Morning, Rikyrah!

W.T.F.?

I try not to drive on 79th Street because traffic is usually a cluster from East to West. So, Mayor Tiny Dancer decided he would add to the traffic madness on this street to raise revenue?

Log Cabin Republicans are proving that they have little reason to exist.

Admiral_Komack

Cue up “Deliverance”.

AxelFoley

Only a little after midday and I’m DONE.

rikyrah

self-hate is powerful, isn’t it?

creolechild

Senate confirms new IRS commissioner

The Senate voted 59-36 Friday to confirm President Obama’s nominee to head the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). GOP Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Rob Portman (Ohio) voted with Democrats to confirm John Koskinen.[….] Senators from both sides of the aisle have said that Koskinen, who has taken on other tough government assignments over recent decades, is more than qualified to take over the commissioner slot.[….]

Third that! I have been thinking of her too. She has not posted here for months. I do seem to remember that in one of her last posts she said her job was becoming very demanding & she would have to travel more. I hope all is well with her.

As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, the court voted 4 – 2 that a provision allowing natural gas companies to drill anywhere, regardless of local zoning laws, was unconstitutional. Seven municipalities had challenged the shale drilling law, known as Act 13, that required “drilling, waste pits and pipelines be allowed in every zoning district, including residential districts, as long as certain buffers are observed.”

The Court said Act 13 “fundamentally disrupted” the expectations of Pennsylvania residents living in residential zones, and that the provision wasn’t in line with Pennsylvania’s constitution or Environmental Rights Amendment, which guarantees Pennsylvanians the “right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”[….]

He’s Indo-American. This is well worth the read if you have not already seen it.

malletgirl02

According to the Washington post India curtailed diplomatic privileges and security for American diplomats. India better hope not one hair on any American diplomat is damaged due to these actions.

This stood out to me in your post

“Five months prior, she had complained to the NYPD that her $3.31/hr domestic was trying to “extort her for a visa” (guess she was getting a little too uppity about her work conditions).”

Looks like this diplomat has a bad case of afluenza. India needs to recognize we take slavery very seriously in this country, we even fought a bloody war over it.

creolechild

PBO created the environment in which this happened…yes, he did.

13 Major Clean Energy Breakthroughs Of 2013

1. Using salt to keep producing solar power even when the sun goes down.[….]

2. Electric vehicle batteries that can also power buildings.[….]

3. “Industrial internet” communicates with grid operators, to predict
wind availability and power needs and grid-scale batteries built into the turbines store power when the wind is blowing— then feed it into
the grid as demand comes along, smoothing out fluctuations in
electricity supply.

4. Solar electricity hits grid parity with coal.[….]

5. Advancing renewable energy from ocean waves.[….]

6. Harnessing ocean waves to produce fresh water.[….]

7. Ultra-thin solar cells that break efficiency records.[….]

8. Batteries that are safer, lighter, and store more power.[….]

9. New age offshore wind turbines that float.[….]

10. Cutting electricity bills with direct current power.[….]

11. Commercial production of clean energy from plant waste is finally here.[….]

There are times when Lawrence O is absolutely spot on. This is one of those times.

rikyrah

Jim Stuart’s New Blog: Why So Many Cannot See Obama

Why can’t people see this man? Nancy LeTourneau, aka Smartypants, has just completed a three-part blog series very ably addressing this question (Part I, Part II, and Part III). She looks at three “lenses” that cloud the perception of many: The Racial Lens – Few of us are able to acknowledge our Racial Lens; and because we can’t, we endlessly generalize about the strengths and weaknesses of another ethnic group or race. We may even think we really like Blacks, or Asians, or Latinos, but as long as the ethnic character of the individual is what we see first, then we look through a Racial Lens. It’s not a Person we see first; it’s a Black….person. If we can admit to ourselves that we do wear, albeit unconsciously, a Racial Lens, we can then notice what generalizations spring unproven from this lens. The two Nancy points to are competence and luck. Obama is always demonstrating incompetence, or he’s about to. And when a success is achieved, it’s luck.

Clara Gantt, the 94-year-old widow of Army Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Gantt weeps as his casket arrived at Los Angeles International Airport early Friday morning. After a tour of duty during World War II, Gantt was captured in the Korean War and was missing for more than 63 years. His remains were only recently identified, providing closure for his family.

Wow. 63 long years let loose in a moment. I will pray that she finds real peace. God bless her and her loved one (s).

lamh

@latimesphotos30m
Remains of missing soldier returns 63 years after he went missing in Korean War http://bit.ly/1i7KjRS pic.twitter.com/E4xVbF6Ins @latpix

Aquagranny911

Hola POU! Loved the Black Madonna series this week. Muchas Gracis to our wonderful SEPIA!!!You can definitely see the Spanish influence in this last one. It reminds me of some of the ones in Mexican churches that were brought over from Spain. We even have some statuary in San Xavier Mission in Tucson that has this look.

They were actually authenticated by analysis of some pollen in the bees wax used to affix some parts on the statues. We know the person who was involved in this study. I found that really interesting. I didn’t know that pollen could actually tell where something was made.

Joy Reid deserves her own show. Melber, not so much. But I can see them trying to split the baby and have them co-host a show, ala Morning Joe, just with more diversity and less of a pseudo-liberal perspective

goldenstar

Where is that Ronan going? If he’s not doing the 12pm slot, then they must be considering Joy Ann for that….

Yeah ok…who does he think he’s fooling with this bs? We know his motivation.

Daltex82

Please proceed Mr. mega rich asshat.

lamh36

If you are not on FB and have not tried to “friend” Al Giordano, then you are missing out.

Having spent a quarter century working to free nonviolent drug offenders from prison, I have something to say right now. It’s controversial still today, but it was radical heresy to suggest in the eighties to liberate people who have been demonized by the media as criminals and somehow dangerous. Obama’s pardon of eight such prisoners yesterday is a case in point and should be a teaching moment for anybody who wants to affect real change. To say, “Oh, it’s only eight, he should have released all tens of thousands of them” is trademark “Eeyore Activism” (the syndrome in which any one step toward progress is never enough, in which some even express anger at the person who made that step). As one with scar tissue upon scar tissue from the slings and arrows of having fought to end all imprisonment for drug crimes for so long, I see it as a watershed moment. It “normalizes” the concept for public opinion, opening the door for the rest of us to organize to free the rest. Can you imagine the media shit storm if all tens of thousands were released on the same day before public opinion was ready to embrace it, the media witch hunt sensationalizing any error made by any single one of them after release, the blowback and subsequent retreat setting back our cause another 20 years? Every long march happens one step at a time. A step in the right direction should always be applauded and encouraged. In fact that’s the only thing in history that has ever paved the way for the second step to be taken, something the Eeyores would do well to study and understand better…

I am on FB and tried to friend Al a long time ago and never got response and I was one of the Field Hands.

lamh36

actually, that is the entirety of his comment.

goldenstar

Thanks so much!

qosine

Here’s how you do it.
“It “normalizes” the concept for public opinion, opening the door for the rest of us to organize to free the rest.”

nathkatun7

Great comment! Thank you, Lamh36, for sharing it! Al Giordano is one of the sanest journalists in this country. He is always practical and he is not afraid to speak the truth about left wing ideological purists who insist on denying the reality of the current political climate.

Thank you so much Sepia for this thread! It’s breathtaking to see the utter ignorance of these white racists who think they are so superior to everyone else. All these white folks who claim to love Jesus so much would probably be the first in line to kill him if he returns to the world looking like any black man on the streets of America.